Time for another ad.
AFL Pro Football was released in 1996 by Brendan O'Brien and was originally planned for a commercial release. By that time, though, the idea wasn’t feasible, so Brendan released it as shareware instead. Hopefully, even in 1996, he picked up many registrations - which, if you keep reading, I think you’ll understand why.
Now, I know absolutely nothing about American Football. Zero. Zilch. Nada. So I’m hardly the best person to be writing this, so think of it more as a “news alert”, and a very late one! That said, I’m sure a few Americans stumble onto the nonsense I post here on AtariCrypt, so perhaps this will be of interest to them, and maybe a few curious “football” fans elsewhere.
From the start, gameplay settings can be altered to adjust match length, pitch type, and skill level. You can play with team rosters, although the demo sticks with the same two sides (not that I’d know the difference anyway). The AI is reportedly brilliant, but without knowing the rules, I couldn’t honestly tell you.
The graphics immediately impressed me with a choice of an overhead view and a spanky 3D perspective. The 3D look is incredible, though it does shrink the playing area - something you might not even notice until you try the overhead mode. While the overhead option is no slouch, I prefer the exceptional 3D visuals.
Hey, maybe someone from across the pond can explain this to me: why does American "football" involve so much, well, not playing? The endless standing around - timeouts, stoppages, adverts(!!), and something called a "huddle". Still, at least they are unlikely to get injured; half of the time, they are not moving!
From my admittedly clueless perspective, AFL Pro Football is slick and plays well, despite the sport's stop/starts! Sure, I don’t know my NFL from my elbow, but I can tell this is a classy game that's gonna appeal to fans big time. It’s just a shame we only have the demo; I fear the full version may be lost to time.
- Sadly, I only found the demo version, which is over at Atarimania.
- Into The Vertical Blank knows football and has a fascinating video you should enjoy!
- Yes, it's only for the Atari STe, so check out our list of other Enhanced Games.
The crowd are cheering as the teams rush on in next-gen 3D!
Something's going on here, no idea what!
The guy with the red marker is me, and moments later, I fell flat on my face.
Umm, something is incomplete. No idea what, though lol. What a game!!
The overhead mode has a bigger screen and feels more like an ST game now.
Right then, something's going on here. Yep, something...
The crowd look on in amazement as a goal still hasn't been scored!
Touchdown was made, and a goal was scored. Yippee, can I go home now?
